Welcome to Danny Pino Online, your number one source for everything regarding actor Danny Pino. Danny is best known for his role as Detective Scotty Valens on Cold Case and Detective Nick Amaro on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Here at Danny Pino Online, we hope to provide you with the latest news, photos, and more concerning Danny. Be sure to visit us daily to see if anything is new.

NBC has announced the renewal of five key drama series for the 2013-14 season: “Revolution,” “Chicago Fire,” “Parenthood,” “Grimm” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

All have been given 22-episode orders.

The announcement was made by Jennifer Salke, president of NBC Entertainment.

“On the verge of our 2013 fall scheduling decisions, we’re pleased to renew five drama series that will be important to our new season line-up,” Salke said. “We’re proud and very appreciative of all of the actors, producers, writers and directors who work so hard to deliver such high-quality work week in and week out. These complex shows represent a broad range of genres and tones, and all of them stand out for us in a television landscape now filled with one-hour series. We’re especially pleased to be renewing “Revolution” and “Chicago Fire” — two first-season successes — and there will be more returning series announcements made in the next couple of weeks.”

“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” will enter its 15th season for NBC. The series chronicles the life and crimes of the Special Victims Unit of the New York City Police Department, an elite squad of detectives who investigate sexually based crimes.

“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” is a Wolf Films production in association with Universal Television. Dick Wolf is creator and executive producer. Warren Leight, Julie Martin and Peter Jankowski are also executive producers.

“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” originals this season have improved the time period versus year-ago results by 70 percent in adults 18-49 (“live plus same day”) and are building on the time slot’s lead-in by 31 percent in 18-49 and 70 percent in total viewers.

PRE-FINALE EPISODES | Mosh-pit gang rape, comatose victim in a rowboat, drug dealer with a vendetta – the end ofSVU‘s season is serving up a nightmare smorgasbord for its fans. On May 1, the aforementioned assault on a young woman “turns into a difficult legal case that, in many ways, rests on the testimony of an Army vet (Once Upon a Time‘s Eion Bailey) who has PTSD,” executive producer Warren Leight previews. Next, the May 8 episode centers on someone from Fin’s past who’s holding an extreme grudge. “In the teaser, someone takes a shot at our guys and hits,” he says. “It’s a desperate race for 40 minutes to figure out who’s doing it, how they’re doing it, how to get them.” Then, the season’s penultimate outing on May 15 is “a pure mystery” in which an unconscious woman in a rowboat washes ashore next to the mayor’s mansion in Manhattan. “It’s a story about the double lives that people lead,” Leight teases.

MAY 22 SEASON FINALE | Right now, even Leight isn’t exactly sure how SVU will finish its 14th season. What he does know: The finale is about a serial rapist/killer “who’s very lucky and has managed to escape… capture over and over. We call him The Beast.” Olivia decides she’s going to nab the perp once and for all… but her fate ultimately rests in NBC’s hands. “Because we don’t know yet if the show’s coming back or not, we don’t know how the episode ends yet,” Leight says wryly.

I loved the double reveal on SVUof Benson’s mystery man and Amaro’s secret child. Will Amaro and Benson’s partnership be affected? —Brett
ADAM: Not really. In fact, Wednesday’s episode, which tells the story of a woman (The Walking Dead‘s Lauren Cohan) carrying the baby of the man who raped her, brings Benson and Amaro closer as Olivia finally divulges more details about her own troubled origins to her partner. As far as Benson’s new lover is concerned, don’t look for explicit developments on that front right away. However, Benson’s troubled romantic past in general is called into question when she’s forced to testify.

And he is… Brian Cassidy! Sure, the show had planted the seeds of the relationship in the season premiere when Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Cassidy (Dean Winters), who hooked up way back on SVU‘s first season, shared a kiss in the hospital. But when TVGuide.com visited the show’s New York set for the filming of the big reveal, executive producer Warren Leight confessed that when the arc was first conceived, Cassidy wasn’t the writers’ first choice.

“We had initially assumed it would be Haden [Harry Connick Jr.],” Leight says. “But there was something interesting between Dean and Mariska. When there was the hospital kiss scene, we were leaning towards it. But we weren’t sure how much we were going to pay it off, and then we just decided to go a little farther. I think if we did our job right, everybody looking back will go, ‘Duh.’ But it’s interesting that there’s been debate.”

Although the identity of Benson’s secret lover might not have been completely surprising, the reveal itself was pretty spectacular. On Wednesday’s episode, a woman accused Cassidy of rape when he was working undercover. When Amaro (Danny Pino) and Munch (Richard Belzer) head to Cassidy’s apartment to question him, they catch Benson walking out of Cassidy’s bedroom — wearing the checkered shirt last seen by Benson’s companion on her flight to the Bahamas.

So, why has the couple been able to make the relationship work this time around? “I think Cassidy grew up a little bit in the last 13 years,” Winters says. “He was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and she was a seasoned cop. I think he went off and he got seasoned. [And] I think there’s a little familiarity there, which seems like something she might need right now.”

Hargitay agrees. “There’s an ease to them,” she says. “They keep going back together because it just feels comfortable and safe and easy. We’re exactly what each other needs right now. Both of us have commitment issues and both of us put our work first. So it’s unlikely, but it’s a perfect fit.”

Then again, the episode seems to have put strain on the relationship a bit. Although Cassidy was ultimately exonerated, Winters suggests that even the slightest hint of distrust on Benson’s part could be trouble. “I think the future with Benson is uncertain,” he says. “The thing that you want most in your life is your woman to have faith in you, and I’m not sure that she does. That’s a real crusher. But there is chemistry there, and I think the two characters do long for each other.”

Leight admits that early drafts of the script did, in fact, feature Cassidy ending things with Benson on the courthouse steps. “We went back and forth on it, and Mariska was a little sad to read it,” he says. “I think she opened herself up a lot with Haden and got clobbered. … I just didn’t want to take her heart out of her chest and smash it again.

“This is a relationship that isn’t asking for as much overt risk-taking,” Leight continues. “The nature of their relationship is not so much a Mr. Right, but a Mr. Right Now. Sometimes those port-in-a-storm relationships are very helpful. I’m glad that she has a little company.”

Hargitay agrees that Benson is approaching the relationship cautiously, but she suggests that perhaps that approach will improve the couple’s chances at longevity. “I think she’s a little bit off love,” she says. “She doesn’t have any unrealistic expectations [about the relationship], but it fills a need. That’s the beauty of it. Because she doesn’t think that it has legs, that’s the reason it might last.”

Leight says he’d like to check in on Benson and Cassidy before the end of the season, but acknowledges that the show also has to deal with the episode’s other big shocker. While testifying in Cassidy’s trial, Amaro is forced to admit that he once carried on a long-term relationship with the sister of the drug kingpin he was targeting while working undercover. Even worse, Amaro learns that he fathered a child with the woman that he never knew about.

“Amaro is very buttoned-down. He keeps things in control, and I thought, ‘I’d like to, in some way, dirty him up or knock him for a loop,'” Leight says. “There aren’t tremendous legal implications for Amaro, but there are tremendous emotional implications for him. How do you tell the wife with whom you are trying to figure out your status [about this]? And when does his daughter meet her half brother?”

Adds Pino: “Amaro came in kind of as a rogue. He’s tried to conform to being this detective with a suit and a tie, but he’s not that guy. He’s been trying to be as close to a perfect SVU detective as possible, but that mask is now off and he’s been revealed. To see him as fallible and see him as imperfect is a lifeline. I like to see Amaro struggle, but he’s going to do the right thing. Taking responsibility is important. … Amaro knows his biggest responsibility is to his kids.”

And how will this pair of reveals affect the partnership between Benson and Amaro? Although Pino admits his character felt betrayed by Benson’s secrecy, he doesn’t predict any irreparable damage. “Any relationship that is solid is forged with controversy and conflict,” he says. “I think we understand each other, we trust each other and we have the ability to hurt each other. Amaro is hurt by her in the episode, but are they past the point of not being able to reconcile? Absolutely not. Partners take a hit and learn from it and hopefully it makes the relationship stronger.”

What did you think of the episode’s many reveals? SVU airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC.

Got any more scoop on Benson’s mystery man on SVU? — Gina
ADAM: I can tell you that the reveal of Benson’s secret relationship will not sit well with her partner Amaro, who is hurt that Benson didn’t trust him with the information. But perhaps Amaro shouldn’t throw stones. I hear that a ghost from the sometimes-hot-headed cop’s own secret past will resurface to haunt him in a life-changing way.

USS JOHN C. STENNIS, At Sea — New England Patriots coach, members of the New York Jets and an actor from “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” made special phone calls to spread holiday wishes to deployed Sailors aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) Dec. 21.

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, New York Jets defensive end Mike DeVito, defensive tackle Kendrick Ellis, quarterback Greg McElroy, and cornerback Kyle Wilson and SVU actor Danny Pino called to thank Sailors for their service and let them know that their sacrifices are appreciated.

“I’m proud of the men and women in the service. It means a lot to me that we’re one of your favorite teams because you’re our favorite team,” said Belichick. “We appreciate all your sacrifices; it’s hard to be away from your families during the holidays, and we want to win for you guys.”

Sixteen Sailors were present for the calls. One phone call gave a Sailor a chance to learn more about his personal interests outside his normal work routine.

“Talking to Pino was a personal interest for me because I am an aspiring writer and theater actor,” said Boatswain’s Mate Seaman Casey Rogers, from Kalamazoo, Mich. “This experience was invaluable to me in my future outside of the Navy.”

Pino currently stars as Detective Nick Amaro in the long-running NBC legal drama, “Law Order: Special Victims Unit”. He is also known for his critically acclaimed performance as Mexican druglord and serial rapist Armadillo Quintero on FX’s The Shield.

“I appreciate all the dedication and commitment to keeping us back home safe especially during this time of year,” said Pino. “I wish you guys all a happy holiday and happy new year.”

“Getting a chance to talk to him [Pino], showed us that people in Hollywood actually care about the military,” said Electrician’s Mate 2nd Class Cameron Stewart, from Vancouver, Wash. “It means a lot to me because I’m a big Law and Order fan and now when I watch him on TV I’ll know him as the person and not the character he plays on the show.”

Sailors were left in suspense on whom they were going to talk to during the Jets phone call. One Sailor in particular was really excited to get a chance to talk to a player he had been following since he was in college.

“It was awesome to get a chance to speak with Greg [McElroy]. It is the best thing that’s happened on deployment so far,” said Intelligence Specialist 3rd Class Mark Dewberry, from Elberta, Ala.

McElroy was just as thrilled to talk to the Sailors aboard Stennis as they were to talk with him.

“I was thrilled to talk to the Sailors. When asked about this opportunity, I said ‘Are you kidding me? It is a no brainer’ so I’m glad I got the chance to talk to them and wish everyone a happy holiday,” said McElroy.

Welcome to Danny Pino Online, your number one source for everything regarding actor Danny Pino. Danny is best known for his role as Detective Scotty Valens on Cold Case and Detective Nick Amaro on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Here at Danny Pino Online, we hope to provide you with the latest news, photos, and more concerning Danny. Be sure to visit us daily to see if anything is new.

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